Soft droplets of blood that came from the wall and the almost non-existent throne of the Matriarch reverberated inside the Dark Wolf Palace.

Thousands of soldiers knelt in front of Lidien slowly ascending the platform with its bone and skeletal steps that had almost lost their footing from the fight.

As he stood on the platform, now without its throne, he commanded.

"Bring all the dead bodies here..."

Despite the fatigue and strain, his weakened very being screaming for rest, Lidien didn't take even a seat.

He could not delay any longer, not without someone... like Alva and Lily to protect him.

Even pulling out the rift and resting in it wasn't an option either.

And all he could do was pull out the Chest of the Undying Lich and open it.

Micro-strands of veins covering the beating heart protected it like a pupa; Lidien smiled at the thought of his goal... reviving Lily was already between his hands.

"Old man, do I need to pray?"

The Monarch of Blood chuckled, amused by his question.

'The God of Death is already within you... isn't it weird to pray for oneself?"

Lidien nodded and smiled at the thought of it.

Then, as he raised the Chest of the Undying Lich... he forced himself and willed the blood scattered throughout the room to coagulate, suspended in midair.

With his abundant verve sheathing it, Lidien willed it to be forcefully pressed.

Rivers of blood rose from the floor, gallons upon gallons of it, coiling into a sphere the size of a man.

Lidien clenched his fist, and the sphere collapsed in on itself, boiling and sizzling until all that remained was a palm-sized glowing crimson of Blood Essence.

'It's not enough...'

Lidien then glanced at Alva, looking at him with reverence.

"Alva, the Blood is not enough... tell the soldiers to bring all the Dark Wolves here, or if not... bring all the slaves here."

Alva bowed, and without question, he followed the command of Lidien.

A few minutes passed of continuous purification of blood to make a Blood Essence. Lidien had already produced almost tens of liters from just the dead and the body of the Matriarch.

'Am I doing the right thing?'

Then, Alva came with thousands of beastfolk and slaves, standing outside the Dark Wolf Palace, their eyes dead as they watched Lidien purify blood to make a Blood Essence.

'Is the memory given to me by the Echoes of the Flesh correct?'

Lidien willed the tens of liters of Blood Essence to fill the beating heart of Lily inside the Relic.

As the hair-like strands of veins writhed and wiggled, the Blood Essence suspended above it formed and shaped slowly into a crimson hollow body as if it was a vessel.

Then...

A voice above a whisper, that only Lidien could hear thanks to the Whisper of Soul, made him hear Lily, now a ghost standing beside him.

"You look more handsome and dependable now, Lidien." her voice was a breeze of sorrow and love.

"But at what cost, my little brother?"

Lidien slowly turned his head, a single tear from his eyes trickled down his cheeks as he caressed the ethereal face of Lily.

To the thousands of beastfolk and soldiers, their prince was a terrifying enigma, muttering to and caressing the empty air with a single tear tracing a path through the blood on his cheek.

They saw a madman, not the prince... for they could not see the ghost of the woman he was fighting to save.

"Lily... wait for me, I'll surely revive you."

His eyes full of madness glanced at the soldiers, holding chains strapped to the Dark Wolves and the emaciated slaves.

"Bring all the dead inside!"

With a command that was more of a scream and strained voice, Lidien's bloodshot eyes disregarded his fatigue.

All the blood of the new corpses suspended and spiraled into a bubble of blood, squeezing the corpses till their last drop, draining them dry in the process.

Lidien with one hand controlled the purifying process while the other hand led the Blood Essence towards the Relic's heart, still forming the vessel for Lily.

"It's not enough... it's not enough... Lily, don't worry... you will live again..."

Lily, now just a ghost of the past, could only smile and shake her head.

"You've changed, Lidien... do you remember what you said to me? that you would change the Blood Rose Clan?"

Lidien didn't know... it was the memory of the past Lidien, buried and removed by the Monarch of Blood upon his failed possession.

"The time when you shouted at Mother when she told you to enslave the others?"

Lily gently walked, and embraced him without warmth.

"You are a brilliant child, Lidien, too innocent for what this world had offered... you became a Demon not from revenge, but willed to protect your own Tribe... Please, don't be like me, who got astray from the Light and was corrupted."

And with a kiss on his forehead he couldn't actually feel, she muttered.

"Just be you... Lidien, do not be hard on yourself... do not be like us, who enslaved you... become one of us."

He glanced at the suspended blood still being purified into an essence, slowly being conveyed to the Relic.

Then...

Unknowingly, everything seemed to slow down...

He watched the faces of the soldiers, watching him with awe, as the madness in their eyes couldn't hide their excitement for what was to become of the Dark Wolves and the slaves, chained and restricted without a fight.

He watched the faces of the beastfolk and the emaciated slaves, looking at him with mixed emotions... the warriors were still trying to free themselves, while being whipped by his own soldiers, women with hollowed eyes staring at him while hugging their own children... and children... the same age as the past Lidien, hoping... yearning...

"To see the morning light..." he muttered under his breath, as he remembered the face of Kanaz fighting in the Bone Orchards.

And as he glanced at Alva, her eyes stared at him without emotion... but her hands were gripping tightly, waiting for his command.

Lidien smiled faintly, before staring back at the ghost of Lily, who released her embrace from him.

"Thank you... Sister, but... I promised to revive you... no matter the cost."

A single black-red wing erupted from Lidien's back matched with a halo suspended above his head.

His body suspended above the platform as if he was excused from gravity.

Alva, now staring intently at him, took a step forward, gripping her hands.

'Foolish child, kill the slaves... end your suffering!'

The Monarch of Blood shouted in his mind, urging him to do something he couldn't turn back from.

Lidien smiled, a genuine smile he forgot that he could make.

"Let death... be the start of a new beginning..."

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